Atlanta is a go-to destination for Labor Day weekend, at least if search activity on the website Kayak is any indication. / Mike Stewart AP

by Jayne Clark , USA TODAY

by Jayne Clark , USA TODAY

What's in store for Labor Day weekend travelers? Higher prices, for one thing.

Expect to pay a whooping 12% more for lodging over last year, with stays averaging $171 nightly over the end-of-summer long weekend, says online booking site Travelocity.

The news is less daunting when it comes to airfares, which have risen by just 1% over 2012 to an average of $335 for a domestic round-trip ticket.

Big cities - New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco are in the top 10 bookings category, as are some sun destinations such as Orlando and South Florida. Falling this year in popularity are Washington, D.C., which dropped out of the top 10, and Las Vegas, which fell to 10th place from No. 6 last year.

Meanwhile, something is clearly up in Atlanta this Labor Day weekend. Travel search engine Kayak saw searches related to Georgia's capital up 62% compared with the weekends before and after the holiday. (It might be related to the Alabama vs. Virginia Tech Chick-fil-A season opener and NASCAR races at the Atlanta Speedway.)

Rounding out top Labor Day travel searches on Kayak:

2. Denver

3. Cancun, Mexico

4. San Juan, Puerto Rico

5. Seattle

6. Pittsburgh

7. Houston

8. Salt Lake City

9. Fort Lauderdale

10. Phoenix

A tip from Kayak: Airfares to Cancun drop an average of 18% the week after Labor Day, and they're down more than 16% to San Juan the week before the holiday.

Travelocity has discounts on select vacation packages booked before Sept. 1 for travel between Aug. 29 and Sept. 3.